


Advice

by kay_obsessive



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Epistolary, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:35:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23846080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kay_obsessive/pseuds/kay_obsessive
Summary: “If you won’t let the doctors look more closely at it, would you at least ask someone for advice? We’re friends with an automail expert, aren’t we?”
Relationships: Lan Fan & Winry Rockbell
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21
Collections: Unsent Letters 2020





	Advice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Suzume](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzume/gifts).



Her Emperor catches her writing a list, the characters emerging slow and shaky from the pen in her unpracticed right hand.

> Aching most nights  
>  Sharp pain after training drills  
>  Slow reactions  
>  Bleeding

  
“If you won’t let the doctors look more closely at it, would you at least ask someone for advice?” he says, frowning at her catalogue of symptoms. “We’re friends with an automail expert, aren’t we?”

Are they friends? Lan Fan wonders even as she leans over quickly to cover her list, embarrassed to be caught and even more embarrassed by that feeling. Ling might be, but Lan Fan is less sure of herself. Winry is certainly very friendly toward her, which she does her best to return in kind whenever they meet, but Winry is friendly toward most everyone. It’s difficult for someone like Lan Fan to read. 

But ‘expert’ is inarguable. When Ling leaves her alone, hands up in surrender and laughing lightly at her defensive posture, she grabs a fresh sheet of paper and shakes the cramp from her hand.

Writing in Amestrian is an even slower exercise.

> To Winry Rockbell,
> 
> Edward and Alphonse gave me your information some time ago, so I hope it’s not too much trouble to seek out your help now. I hear your name often even here in Xing when they speak of automail, so I know your work is thriving and must keep you busy.
> 
> My arm has still not recovered from the strain put on it during the many long battles in Central. There is pain almost every day, and it often seeps blood from the edge. Sometimes it feels slow to respond when I move, which is something I cannot afford to allow. I know this automail was not your work, but I did not keep contact with the original mechanic, and I hope you can offer some recommendations on what the problem might be, what to do or who to see. 
> 
> I know we’ve never spoken very much, but I've seen your abilities and trust your opinion on this over anyone else I know.
> 
> Thank you,  
>  Lan Fan

  
Contact between their two countries is slow, the railroads still yet to pick their careful way back across the desert to complete repairs on the old, buried tracks and the laying of telephone lines an even more distant dream. But the recent spark of communication and trade Ling and the others have encouraged remains strong, and Winry’s reply comes as quick as the trading caravans travel.

It barely even bothers with an introduction.

> That’s because six months is far too short for a proper recovery! I know there were very good reasons you couldn’t wait as long as was really needed, but I’d be more surprised if I heard you say you weren’t having any problems after that.
> 
> I’m really concerned about the bleeding, though. Some pain would be expected at this point even with a standard recovery, but there shouldn’t be consistent bleeding. I’m worried the anchor points on the port may be coming loose. If the mechanics are failing occasionally, that’s a problem too, but I’m guessing that’s a wiring issue, and those tend to be easily fixed if you know where the problem is.
> 
> Your arm is a variation on a Koehler model, right? It’s a really excellent design that engineers have been doing amazing things with, but since it’s so easily modified, it’s hard to do a work up without the exact model in front of me. I’d really love to see it up close! But for now could you just try and describe what’s happening in more detail? Exactly where along the port the bleeding occurs, specific parts that don’t respond properly and what you’re trying to do when it happens, any little fact you can remember.
> 
> I’m always happy to help a friend, so I’ll do anything I can to try and work out something from here.
> 
> Winry

  
The openness and immediate enthusiasm startle her, and, pushing away the thought of Ling's knowing grin, Lan Fan hurries to craft her own reply.

But as fast as either can write, the details still take some time and more than a few letters to come together.

> ...I do not know the proper terms for the parts, but the bleeding comes from around the lowest connection to the arm. I find it hard to describe the response problem. It feels strange and slow when it happens, like moving in water.

  


> ...Bleeding from the bottom of the port is actually reassuring. It absolutely still needs to be worked on, but the upper connections take the most stress and movement and are always a bigger worry when they fail. I do need a better idea of the response problems if we want to pinpoint the wiring issue, though.

  


> ...As I said, it's difficult to describe how this problem is happening. It is frequent, but I cannot point to a specific part that behaves this way over others or a specific reason. The pain occurs even more often.

  


> ...You say the response delay happens randomly, but there must be a place in the system where the problem originates from, even if it doesn’t seem that way. Could you keep a list for a short time of when it happens? Tell me exactly what you are doing with the arm right before each delay.

  
And then, before Lan Fan can even collect together such a list and figure out how to make the movements clear to someone who wasn’t trained as she was, another letter: 

> I’m sorry, I know this must be frustrating. I was also hoping I would be able to help more and figure something out for you quickly. Automail problems are always a challenge to figure out if you didn’t build it yourself, even if you have it in your hands.
> 
> But I know Ling’s new position makes it hard for you to travel or accept travelers right now, so I’ll do everything I can. I promise we will figure something out.

  
Lan Fan stares.

“You should just invite her!” Ling cheerfully said when Lan Fan was preparing to send her first letter, but she had refrained from requesting a meeting out of respect for Winry’s time; it never occurred to her that Winry was refraining for the same reason.  


> If you truly have the time to visit Xing, then Xing is more than able to welcome you. We can send someone trusted to meet you at either the desert crossing or the port and bring you safely here. It would be no trouble or burden at all. You are helping me, and many in this country have a curiosity about automail and would also be eager to accommodate a visit so they can speak with you.
> 
> Beyond that, the Emperor considers you a friend, and so do I. Please come, if you are able.

  
The response comes as quick as the others. 

> Of course I can! Give me a time, and I’ll make my way there.
> 
> I’ve been worrying since your first letter, so I’ll be glad to see you and get this solved.
> 
> Your friend,  
>  Winry


End file.
